Wine Cellar Cooler Gimmick: A Backside Shelf

My seven-year old Whisperkool 3000 recently gave out after a lifetime of running more often and longer than I thought it should have, and the even shorter five-year life of its 3000 predecessor had a similar history of overwork, thanks maybe to the cellar's large viewing window and glass door. So a couple of weeks ago the Whisperkool (Vinotheque) distributor and I agreed a step up to the more powerful 4200 model was in order, and fortunately the 4200 fits into exactly the same space as the 3000. That seemed to do the trick. Immediately the motor ran less frequently and for shorter periods, and the standard testing of the inlets and outlets on the evaporator (front) and condenser (back) sides were both within what the factory considers acceptable range. But, still, I noticed on the condenser side some of the warm air from the outlet was being sucked back into the inlet, so I held a piece of cardboard between the outlet and inlet, took the temperature readings again, and found them even better: the inlet temp dropped from about 85 to about 70, roughly the outlet room temperature. So I asked the distributor if there was any reason why I shouldn't make the cardboard a permanent shelf. No reason at all, said the distributor. As I see it, the shelf, less than a foot wide, serves a similar purpose to a duct, which would be better if the back side of the cooler was a small room and the warm air needed to be ducted outside, but a Whisperkool duct, with transportation, would cost a total of about $300, plus potentially quite a bit for knocking a hole in the outside wall, and a duct doesn't seem necessary as my exhaust room is a large cellar with an open door at the opposite end.

Does the shelf look pretty? No, it looks ridiculous, which is maybe why the factory doesn't provide something like it -- or maybe because they like to sell ducts. But my shelf is in a utility room that nobody ever sees.

Clint, how many bottles does your room hold, or is designed to hold? I have a vinotheque stand alone cabinet that holds about 450 bottles, that I bought 2nd hand, which is now nearly 20 years old, and it is still running fine. Knock wood!

Bob, my cellar holds something more than a thousand bottles. I've lost count.

A few days ago I asked a Vinotheque salesman how long Whisperkools generally last and he said, "Some of 'em go thirteen years." A refrigeration mechanic here in Seattle, where extremely high outside temperatures aren't a big problem, once told me he was under the impression they were good for about seven years. Maybe my last one, the one that got seven years, would have lasted substantially longer if I'd had it repaired but I figured that since it did me the favor of freezing up during a month when the natural cellar temperature is substantially under 70 degrees, that's a golden opportunity to replace it.

Yes, apparently some of the stand-alones are built for the long haul. A friend of mine has one that's a little older than your twenty-year old one. It's first occupants were several cases of '82 Bordeaux that he bought on release, so that would make it about twenty-five years old.

And if I had it all to do over again I'd build a bigger cellar and install a split system. But so would a lot of other geeks, so my lack of forsight isn't unusual.